The time-series properties of imports and US real wages are examined a
nd the interlinks between them for the period 1970-1994, during which
import competition was claimed to be part of the reason for US real wa
ge staggering. Aggregate measures of real wages are used along with va
rious measures of imports. No long-run comovement is found for real wa
ges and imports. Real wages and imports were mainly explained by the s
hocks to themselves. Historical decomposition of the series shows that
, for the 1980s and early 1990s, real wages seemed to be mainly affect
ed by aggregate US economic activities. During some periods, imports t
ended to increase real wages but the impact seems to be mixed. The fin
dings do not support the claim that imports caused US real wage declin
e.